


String of Pearls

by elistaire



Category: Highlander: The Series
Genre: F/M, Gen, Humor, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-23
Updated: 2016-07-23
Packaged: 2018-07-26 08:28:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7567180
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elistaire/pseuds/elistaire
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gina does not like that Duncan is so solitary. She is going to find him someone to love. No matter how many attempts it takes. </p><p>Duncan, Robert, and Joe are just trying to survive the experience. </p><p> </p><p>  <i></i></p><p> </p><p>  </p><p> </p><p>  <i>Joe raised an eyebrow.  “Gina de Valicourt called you and set you up on a date.”  He took a sip from his cup of coffee.  “So, what was the problem?  Was she hideous?  Had the personality of a water buffalo?”</i> </p><p>  <i>“No!” Duncan said indignantly.  “She was very lovely.” </i> </p><p>  <i>“Then what was the problem?”</i> </p><p>  <i>Duncan shook his head.  “It just wasn’t right.  I kissed her goodnight and it was like kissing a dishcloth.”</i></p><p>  <i>“You’ve kissed a dishcloth?” </i></p><p> </p><p>  <i></i></p>
            </blockquote>





	String of Pearls

**Author's Note:**

> Originally published 2003.

**Trouble Brewing:**

“Robert,” Gina said prettily.

“Yes, darling?” Robert looked up.

“Last night, when we had dinner with Duncan, did you notice how sad he was?”

“He did seem a little quiet, I suppose.” Robert rubbed a hand on his chin. 

“He was sad,” Gina decided. “I think he is still brooding over losing his beautiful Tessa.”

“Of course,” Robert agreed. “And his student a few years ago, too. And his clansman, Connor. Terrible tragedies.”

“Yes,” Gina said. “But in all this time he hasn’t found anyone. He needs a woman. He needs love.” She propped her chin up in one hand, her eyes glinting.

“What are you thinking, my love?” Robert asked nervously. 

“Duncan needs someone. And I know just the one.”

“Darling, I don’t think it’ll be that easy. Falling in love isn’t like ordering a dress.”

“Nonsense. Duncan’s heart is too big. Put him in a room with a pretty girl for five minutes and love will bloom.”

*****

 

**The First Trap:**

“Duncan?”

“Gina?” Duncan answered into the phone. “Yes, how are you?”

“Oh, I am fine. But I have a friend who is not as well.”

“Oh, really? I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Yes, it is a terrible thing. I am calling you because I think you can help.”

“Me? What’s the trouble?”

“My friend Arianna needs an escort to the opera. Her escort called in terribly ill and she needs to go for business reasons. I know you enjoy the opera, Duncan. Would you mind?”

Duncan sighed and then agreed. “Of course. When and where, Gina?”

“Oh, good,” Gina said happily and gave him the information.

*****

 

**The Aftermath:**

“That bad, buddy?” Joe asked as he poured Duncan his second two fingers worth of scotch.

“Yeah,” Duncan grumbled. “No-- I mean it wasn’t. But it was. We just didn’t hit it off. Probably didn’t help that the opera was Carmen.”

Joe chuckled. “I never thought I’d see the day that the lady-killer MacLeod went home alone after a date.”

Duncan gave him a stern look. “Joe,” he warned. “It just wasn’t going to work out. And it wasn’t really a date, she just needed an escort.”

Joe raised an eyebrow. “Gina de Valicourt called you and set you up on a date.” He took a sip from his cup of coffee. “So, what was the problem? Was she hideous? Had the personality of a water buffalo?”

“No!” Duncan said indignantly. “She was very lovely.” He grinned. “Very lovely. Soft hair. Blue eyes. And very intelligent. She works as a property lawyer.”

“Then what was the problem?”

Duncan shook his head. “It just wasn’t right. I kissed her goodnight and it was like kissing a dishcloth.”

“You’ve kissed a dishcloth?” 

*****

 

**The Aftermath, Perspective Two:**

“So, tell me everything that happened,” Gina encouraged.

Arianna frowned. “That’s just it. Nothing happened.”

“What do you mean?” Gina asked, her voice disapproving of anyone who didn’t think that her Duncan was a thousand shades of wonderful.

Arianna sighed. “Well, he’s gracious, well spoken, interesting, and more gorgeous than any man has a right to be, but we didn’t hit it off.”

“Didn’t hit it off?” Gina echoed.

“Exactly,” Arianna confirmed. “He was pleasant to be with, but there was just no magnetism. He kissed me and it was like getting kissed by a dead fish.” She gave a little shiver. “I appreciate your making the effort and getting the tickets. The opera was fantastic.”

“No second date?” Gina asked, disappointed.

“No.”

*****

 

**Building a Better Mousetrap:**

“Duncan?”

“Hello, Gina,” Duncan said. He sighed inwardly.

“Thank you so much for helping my friend earlier this week.”

“Anything for you, Gina. You know that. You have but to ask.” He grimaced. Maybe he shouldn’t have phrased it exactly like that.

“Good,” Gina replied promptly. “Because I have another favor to ask.”

“Um?”

“Yes. Robert and I have been invited to an art exhibit opening and we really should attend, but we’ve also been scheduled to visit some dear old friends for weeks now and just cannot cancel. Robert wants to send his assistant to the opening in our place.”

“But she needs an escort?” Duncan asked.

“Oh, Duncan,” Gina said happily. “You guessed! So, you will do this for us?”

“Yes, Gina,” Duncan said and listened patiently as Gina gave him the information.

*****

 

**Failure, Take Two:**

“Robert, I just don’t understand,” Gina said as she watched Robert’s assistant Julia leave the building for the night. “She said that Duncan was the most handsome man she’s ever met, and then she said he had the handshake of a limpet. Why do all these women compare Duncan to fish?”

“Mollusk, darling,” he said, but at Gina’s dark look he dropped the correction. Robert shrugged helplessly. “I don’t know. Perhaps Duncan is not interested in them and does nothing to encourage their attentions.”

Gina frowned. “Why would he do this?” She thought for a moment. “Ah, I know. Perhaps he is already in love.” She fixed her gaze on her husband. “I need you to go and find out.” She went to the closet and retrieved his coat.

“What?” he asked, dismayed. “Now?”

“Yes. He should be at the bar with his friend Joseph, and they will be drinking. It will be perfect.”

Robert sighed and acquiesced. At least it involved drinking with friends.

*****

 

**Reconnaissance:**

“She said I was dull,” Duncan confided. He was well into most of a bottle of scotch and feeling better than he had about the dating disaster that the evening had been.

Joe gave a short guffaw. “You? Dull?” He laughed again, almost tipping over his own beer. 

“Well, she’d be right,” Robert said and polished off the last of the scotch in his own glass. He jerked a thumb at Duncan. “He hasn’t done anything interesting in at least two decades. Spent most of the time being domestic.”

Duncan snorted. “So says the ultimate domesticated one.”

Robert held up a hand. “Please. I am quite content with my domestication. I’m not the one defending myself from being labeled boring, vapid, and wearisome.”

“I’m not dull!” Duncan protested, pounding a fist on the table and almost slipping off his chair. He pulled himself up to a more solid position, poured another drink, and sat there glowering.

“Don’t be like that, Mac,” Joe said, still laughing.

“What’s wrong, Duncan?” Robert asked. 

“Your wife!” Duncan replied. “She keeps asking me for favors. She’s trying to set me up.”

“Well, what was wrong with them, then? Or do you already have a lady love stashed away somewhere?”

“No,” Duncan said, his voice maudlin. “I’m better off without love. Everything I love dies. I’m cursed.”

Robert raised his eyebrows at that.

“Come on, Mac,” Joe argued. “You don’t really believe all that gypsy mumbo-jumbo do you?”

“I’m cursed,” Duncan repeated stubbornly.

*****

 

**Stacking the Deck:**

“Cursed?” Gina asked disbelievingly. “He believes he is cursed?”

“Yes,” Robert said and patiently repeated what he had learned the night before. 

Gina set her hands on her hips. “That is ridiculous. Robert, this is terrible! Duncan cannot believe in this curse anymore.” She started to walk away.

Robert followed. “Darling, what are you going to do?”

Gina turned. “I know someone who is a gypsy. I will bring her here and she can tell Duncan that his destiny is to find his true love.”

“But what if he really is cursed?”

Gina’s eyes flashed. “Robert,” she said. “She will tell him that he is going to fall in love.”

“Ah,” Robert said, understanding. “I see.”

*****

 

**Gathering the Supplies:**

Gina looked around the market square. She had sensed another Immortal. She finished her survey and smiled. It was someone she knew. She went over to him. “Adam, how pleasant to see you again. I thought you had left Paris.”

“Hello,” Adam replied. “I did. But I’ve returned now.” He settled his bag of purchases on his hip. “Doing some shopping?”

“No,” Gina said. “I’ve come to find a friend. She works down here.”

“Oh?” Adam looked around, slightly nervous. “One of us?”

“Yes,” Gina replied. She pointed at a shop with a sign advertising for fortunes told. “There.” She smiled at him. “I’m glad I’ve run into you. We’re having dinner with Duncan tonight. I would love if you could come too. Oh, please say yes.”

He smiled shyly. “Yes?”

“Good, then. It is settled.” She tugged on his arm. “Come meet Bernice. She’s coming to dinner, also.”

*****

 

**The Best Laid Plans:**

“Oh, where is she?” Gina paced the foyer again. She glanced at her watch and then started pacing again.

“Calm down, sweetheart,” Robert said. He paced beside her for a moment. “She’ll be here.”

The phone rang and Gina hurried to answer it. When she came back she found that Robert had admitted Adam and that they had already poured themselves before dinner drinks. 

“Her car has broken down and she cannot make it,” Gina told them. She wrung her hands together for a moment. “How will I convince Duncan that the curse is lifted if Bernice is not here?”

Robert shrugged. “Perhaps it wasn’t meant to be. We can still have a nice dinner.”

Gina tapped a foot on the tile floor, thinking. She turned to Adam. “I have an idea.”

“Why do I think I’m not going to like this?” Adam asked. 

*****

 

**The Game Is A Foot:**

Methos frowned to himself and tried to readjust the gauzy material that Gina had veiled over his head and face. He was draped all over in loose fabric, pinned in strategic places. He wasn’t sure exactly why he had agreed to this, but it had seemed like a better choice at the time than facing Gina’s wrath.

He felt a buzz thrum up the base of his neck and into his head. MacLeod was here. A few minutes later, Gina showed him into the room where he was waiting.

“Duncan, this is Bernice.” Gina introduced them. “She tells fortunes,” Gina confided in a soft voice. “Please, wait here for a moment. I’ll go find Robert and see if he’s dressed yet. Dinner shouldn’t be more than a few minutes. I’m so sorry for the delay.” She left the room.

MacLeod came and sat next to Methos on the davenport. “So, Bernice,” he said, “Gina informs me that you tell fortunes.”

“Yes, I do,” Methos replied in an artificially high voice. He rolled his eyes under the veil. He must be the biggest fool in a thousand years for agreeing to do this.

MacLeod chuckled and sighed. “I might be presumptuous here, but I’m guessing that she asked you here to read my fortune for me.”

Methos held out one of his hands, which was gloved to reduce the chances that MacLeod might recognize him. “She only cares about you. Give me your hand and I promise this’ll be painless.”

Duncan smiled and surrendered one palm.

Methos stroked his thumb down the lines in the palm. He had spent some lifetimes acting as a palm reader. Different cultures drew different conclusions based upon the same few lines.

“Bernice?” Duncan’s voice had dropped to a husky whisper and Methos realized that he’d been practically massaging the man’s hand for five minutes now.

“I don’t see this curse that I was told about,” Methos said in his affected voice. 

MacLeod inched closer to him on the couch, his thigh aligned with Methos’ now. “What do you see?” 

“Hardship,” Methos replied in a whisper. “Some times of loneliness. And inevitable loss. But always another love waiting for you to find it. There is happiness out there for you.” Even if Gina had not been adamant about what he was to tell MacLeod, he would have tried to soothe this hurt. 

“Always?” MacLeod asked huskily, fingers reaching for Methos’ veil.

Methos realized that MacLeod was about to discover the deception and he jerked back. “Don’t.” 

“I want to see your eyes,” MacLeod said softly.

“No.” Methos clutched at his raiment and pushed to his feet, hoping that the mostly loose material would stay in place long enough for him to escape to safety. 

“Wait!” MacLeod called behind him.

Methos didn’t wait and was very grateful when he heard Gina enter the room behind him and announce that dinner was ready.

*****

 

**Bait and Switch:**

“You said she’ll be here tonight?” Duncan asked anxiously.

“Yes, Duncan. She will be here.” Gina patted his arm. “I told you I invited her to our party. She said she was just a bit flustered when she met you, but that she would love to see you again.”

“Good.” Duncan smoothed down the front of his jacket for the hundredth time that evening.

“Watch out, Mac,” Joe chided from next to him. “You’ll wear out your suit.”

Duncan smiled. “Point taken, Joe.” He scanned the room again. He was concerned that he wouldn’t recognize Bernice. She had been wearing that strange outfit and her entire face had been covered. All he knew was that when he was close to her, something deep inside him hummed.

“There she is,” Gina said. She waved a hand at a woman entering the room.

Duncan smoothed down his jacket again. Bernice was lovely. She was tall and willowy, with glossy chestnut hair and dark brown eyes. Her skin was a warm olive color and she looked striking in her pearl-colored evening gown.

She smiled and moved over to their little group. “Gina,” she said and gave her hostess a quick buss on the cheek. Then she turned to Duncan and held out a hand. “Hello, it’s good to see you again.” 

“Bernice,” Duncan replied and smiled back. He turned and introduced Bernice to Joe. But inside he was feeling a little hollow. That warm, comforting, exciting thrum from the previous encounter was missing. “Would you like to dance?” he asked and then led her out onto the floor when she agreed.

But, somehow, the entire time, they danced just slightly out of sync.

*****

 

**Having Other Ideas:**

“Pardon?” Gina asked. Nothing was going how she had planned it. Duncan and Bernice should have fallen madly in love and lived happily ever after. But that had definitely not happened. She had watched Duncan be attentive and charming all night long, but by the end of the evening even a blind man could see that he and Bernice were not going to be falling in love anytime soon.

“I was hoping you could get me the phone number of Duncan’s friend, Joe.” Bernice was looking at her hopefully. “I didn’t get to spend much time with him, but the few minutes I did have were just – wow.”

“Wow?” Gina shook her head and felt even more confused.

“Yes,” Bernice said. “When we shook hands, there was a spark between us. I really liked him.”

“But what about Duncan?”

Bernice frowned slightly. “He’s fine. But kind of – you know – a wet fish. Boring.” She flashed a smile. “But I’d like to talk to his friend some more.”

Gina sighed, resigned. “I will get you his number and address.”

*****

 

**Making Sense of It All:**

“I don’t understand, Joe.” Duncan watched Bernice give Joe a last little wave and then vanish out the front door.

“Don’t understand what, Mac?” Joe asked, his eyes riveted on the door until Bernice was out of sight. He looked at MacLeod. “You aren’t sore, are you? I mean, I was pretty sure after the party broke up that you and Bernice hadn’t hit it off.”

Duncan smiled. “Not at all. We didn’t. But the first time I met her, there was something there. I felt it.”

“Oh, yeah,” Joe agreed. “She gives off some spark.”

“No,” Duncan said slowly. “Not a spark. A hum. Like being in tune.” He frowned.

“Whatever, Mac. Pick a metaphor. You know it when you feel it.” 

“Yes, I certainly do.”

*****

 

**The Truth and Nothing But:**

“I don’t know what you mean, Duncan,” Gina protested.

“Gina, just tell me who it was. Because I know it wasn’t Bernice.”

Gina moved away and started to fussily rearrange flowers in a vase. “Duncan, it was Bernice. I know you might have some hard feelings that she is now dating your friend, but to be honest, after seeing the two of you together, I didn’t think you were interested.” She tilted her head and studied him. She smiled. “So you are single again, yes? I know just the girl for you!”

Duncan caught one hand and held it gently in his own. “Gina, I don’t want just any girl. I want the one that was pretending to be Bernice the other night.”

Gina looked down at her hand trapped lightly in Duncan’s and bit her lip.

*****

 

**Thread and Clasp:**

Methos looked up from his patch of grass where he had been reading in the park. He had sensed another Immortal come into range. Ah, it was only MacLeod. He waited until MacLeod had ambled over to him.

“Hello, MacLeod,” he said. “What brings you out today?”

“You.” MacLeod sat down next to him and gave a cursory look about. This area of the park was empty, as usual. That was one of the reasons Methos chose to read here.

“Excuse me?” Methos felt a pricking of unease. What new trouble had arisen that needed vanquishing?

MacLeod held out his left hand. 

“What’s this?” Methos asked.

“You didn’t finish. You only looked at my right hand before.”

Methos sucked in his breath and pushed up to a standing position. “Mac….” This was going to be very difficult to smooth over. Damn. He knew it hadn’t been a good idea at the time.

MacLeod stood up also, blocking Methos’ egress and leaning in close, his fingers coming up to feather a touch across Methos’ cheek. “Tell me you didn’t feel it too and I’ll go.”

“Feel?”

“Syncopation.”

Methos blinked and opened his mouth to deny everything. But instead he said, “Oh, but I did. I always have.”

MacLeod smiled and pressed his other hand against Methos’ chest, over his heart. “I think both our fortunes are about to change.”


End file.
